The new kid in town
by Cornelisse Linda-chan
Summary: I adopted this story from Rayne and decided to continue it. I have changed a few things, but until chapter 4 it's the same story. Please bear with me as Akira moves to Tokyo and enters Seigaku. What will happen with this newbie around and more importantly, will this kid be an asset or a drag? Find out yourself and dare yourself not to immediately have a judgement.
1. The start

**The first chapter and yes, I did call it the new kid on purpose. Special thanks to Rayne for the story and I hope I can keep up to your expectations ;) Anyway... Read and enjoy!**

* * *

**Remember, since it's Japan, they say their SURNAMES before their first names!**

**Bold = **Shouting, random sounds and change of POV or a time skip.

_Italics_ Exaggerated words, thoughts, flashbacks or different language(s).

(BRACKETS) = My thoughts ;)

Thanks for reading my author's note! =D

I do not own Prince of Tennis

Chapter 1: The New Kid in Town

Sakuno waited, clicking her heels together as she stared at the train station.

She smiled as she saw a silhouette she knew all too well coming out of the mob of passengers. Waving her arms in the air, her brown braids twirling by the gesture, she got the person's attention.

"Akira! Over here!" Sakuno called, turning her hands into a bullhorn around her mouth.

Akira, realizing the girl who had called was actually Sakuno, grinned and walked over towards her.

Sakuno smiled awkwardly as Akira got closer, looking down at her feet, "Do you still have to do...uhh... _y'know _...according to your dad?"

Akira sighed, a forced smile appearing, "Yeah. But you're bound to be used to it by now, right?"

Sakuno took a deep breath, finally looking at her cousin by blood, Ryuzaki Akira.

He had a sky-blue cap with burnt chestnut hair, that resembled Sakuno's own hair-colour, tucked inside. Long brown bangs were tumbling down her sides to fringe his apple shaped face while silver-grey eyes resembling her aunt's and Akira's mother Ryuzaki Naomi, shined a luminous hue. Akira carried three bags, a big one probably for clothes, a medium sized one for belongings and a small one for other random stuff. He wore some long white-blue shorts with a white t-shirt with a rip-curl design on it. Two arm-bands that covered his elbow to wrist area presented an odd design that resembled some sort of kanji character and the same type of bands were covering his lower calf, hiding anything that was two-inches below his knee to his Achilles tendon. His sneakers were also white and blue, and Sakuno smiled inwardly.

_Obviously he hasn't outgrown his favourite colours..._

Sakuno scrutinized her eyes when she noticed something different about her cousin, "Did you cut your hair?"

Akira smiled, probably because someone noticed, "Yep, but my bangs are still really long. Other than that, I just had a trim," he pointed towards his cap, "But I'm not letting anyone see this hairstyle. It _really_ doesn't suit me, so I got this new cap!" he paused, "Like it?"

Sakuno grinned, "Uh huh," before asking, "So are you going to Seigaku Academy?"

Akira looked confused, "Do you mean Seishun?"

Sakuno sighed, shaking her head in disappointment, "Yes, but everyone calls it Seigaku you know."

The male brunette shrugged before nodding, going on with the conversation, "Well I guess I am then. But I don't really get why dad sent me here in the first place."

"Isn't it obvious?" Sakuno's grin widened, "It's to see Obaa-san!"

Akira scrunched his face, "Why would I wanna see that ol' grandma?"

"Because she wants you to play in her team duh!" Sakuno smiled brightly.

"Team of what? Bowling?" Akira mock grinned.

Sakuno face-palmed.

"Baseball?" Akira's smile seemed to turn into a grimace.

Sakuno slapped her forehead, again. "No!"

"Volleyball?" Akira scratched his chin, clearly not understanding, "I haven't done a good rally in ages..."

"No! We've been talking about it for weeks and yet you still can't understand? Its _tennis_," Sakuno pouted, placing her hands on her hips, "Didn't uncle say you were one of the best in Kyoto?"

"Ah…no, he was just spouting nonsense again," Akira sighed, pulling his cap down.

Sakuno sighed, "When are you going to give in? We all know you love tennis."

"Yeah _right, _and I'm a monkey's uncle," Akira groaned, "Great don't tell me you're on _their_ side now?"

Sakuno heard him mutter something unintelligible under his breath before she intervened, "So you _are _going to try out though…right?"

Akira sighed, a slow smile retracing his face, "Do I have a choice when my cute little cousin _Ura_ wants me too?"

Sakuno blushed, "Akira! Don't call me by that when we're in middle school now!"

Akira chuckled, patting Sakuno's head, "Yeah alright," he replaced his bag over his shoulder, "So am I staying at your house?"

Sakuno nodded, taking his medium sized bag, "Here I'll help."

Akira took it back, giving her his small knapsack, a smile spreading across his face, "Sorry Sakuno, but a man's got to take care of the heavy load."

"But you've been lugging that along for your whole trip! Plus you're n-," she protested.

"It's fine Sakuno," Akira cut her off, walking off towards the exit.

"Ano…Akira," Sakuno caught up to her cousin.

"Yeah?"

"You're going the wrong way. It's the south exit, not the west," Sakuno explained, pointing towards the south doors.

Akira stopped short, turning over to his cousin.

"Sakuno-chan, you said we were going to your house right?"

Sakuno nodded hesitantly.

"Well it says here, the address that dad gave me, that it's on XX street," he held out the paper, before pointing towards the sign, "And it says over there that it's that way."

Sakuno's eyes melded to the size of dots.

Akira chuckled, "You're still the same Sakuno, having no sense of direction, even in your own town."

He turned around, walking over towards the exit before quickly rotating back to his cousin, "Aren't you coming Sakuno?"

Sakuno snapped out of her reverie, "Yep!"

{*}

**Akira Pov**

It was so exciting coming to a new school.

So far, I haven't made any friends. I still wasn't able to go _in _the class, so that's probably why I couldn't. Anyway, the classes seemed cool, the teachers weren't as strict, and the students seem easy-going enough. I even got to see Sakuno! But when the person in charge of me, I think his name was Inui Sadaharu, showed me the older classes I mentally freaked. It's a good thing I'm only a first-year, or else I wouldn't have been able to get in as easy, considering the second and third years are doing some sort of _huge _exam at the moment.

I shivered; _I hate exams._

It's already the end of school, and the board says I have to join a club by the end of this week. I was hoping to join the art club, but Sakuno stopped me.

I sighed remembering her bickering about how I should do a damn sport, or at least find grandma Sumire to check out her team.

So here I am, looking around the school for that old lady.

Walking around the school, I noticed the place wasn't that bad. In fact, it was quite the high-classed area, with the green grass roaming the whole field and the recently trimmed trees outlining the school grounds, it could have been some rich kids' school. But then the classes...well, they're okay I guess. Though, the teachers do get a _bit _side-tracked when asked questions.

My eyes quickly caught sight of a guy who was carrying a racquet…no wait…_three _racquets!

He's most definitely in the tennis club, so I swiftly walked over to him, trying to see his face. When I got closer I noticed he was a first-year, and I realized I saw him before in Sakuno's class, but he was also carrying the Seigaku tennis jacket!

My word, I heard that it's really hard to get into the regulars in this school, so he _must_ be good!

I tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey can you tell me where the tennis courts are?"

He turned around, and I mentally freaked.

_Wow, second time today!_

This guy had extremely sharp eyes, like _literally_. They seemed some-what similar but I pushed the thought away. He really was carrying the regulars' jacket and he didn't look like he was in a good mood. But as I locked gazes, he actually _wasn't _angry.

_Huh, just goes to show you that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover!_

Still, I could tell I would, and _should, _never play a game with him. He just has that sort of _don't-mess-with-me-or-get-pawned _air around him.

The boy pointed towards some random direction.

I rephrased my question, "I mean could you _show _me where the tennis courts are?"

He sighed, "Fine, but I need to get to practice soon."

"Yay!" I cheered, arms flying into the air.

I looked at the boy again, seeing a startled look caress across his face.

"You finally talked," I explained with a grin on my face.

He sighed, "I can't believe my senpai are always so kid-like…You're even shorter than me," he muttered the last bit, but I could still hear it.

"Woah, woah, woah. Back up there, how the _heck_ do I look like a second or third year?"

The boy looked at me with sharp eyes, "You don't. It's just I've never seen you before in my classes, so you're bound to be older or something."

"Well I'm not. Name's Akira. Ryuzaki Akira if you must and I'm the new transfer student," I bowed like those royal Europeans, "What's your name?"

"Echizen Ryoma," he answered like it was a hassle.

Suddenly, he looked up, startling me a bit, "Wait, are you related to Ryuzaki-sensei by any chance?"

"Yep," I answered, popping the 'p' to prolong the sentence, "So could you show me to her please?"

Ryoma nodded, "That makes sense," he gestured over to the side, "Come on."

I followed Ryoma over to the court. Everyone was staring at me, probably because they'd never seen me before, but as soon they saw me, they all went back to practise with the same speed. It was surprising, seeing everyone so _into _the game. Heck, some of them were sweating like crazy! No wonder Seishun - I mean _Seigaku_ was the top in Japan at the moment. I shook off the intimidation and was about to ask where grandma Sumire was when…

"Akira!" I turned seeing my Obaa-san on the bench.

She walked over to me, tugging me into a hug that made a _lot _of people stare and mutter/ask who I was.

Obaa-san grabbed me by the shoulders, "So you decided to come eh? You going to try out the tennis like your ol' grandma here?"

I sighed, "Do I have a choice?"

"Hey," I turned to see some random second-year, "Are you trying out the tennis club?"

I looked up at my grandma in response, "Can I? Or am I not _allowed _to?"

Obaa-san grinned, winking once at me "Sure. But you'll have to sign up later. Why don't you just play with these guys right now?" she pointed towards eight particular men in the far court, who all turned and looked at me.

Some held a look of surprise at grandma Sumire, but three of them just stared at _me_.

_Freaky much._ I thought to myself. _Maybe they're the regulars...which means..._

"Uh…no thanks. I heard about the regulars, and I'm not that stupid to go against them," I put my hands in my pockets, trying to shrink away.

"I'll give you a thousand yen if you play a game with," she paused, "that guy," Grandma Sumire pointed towards the first-year that was in a white ball cap.

I froze in my trackes, "A thousand yen? Seriously?"

_Yes! A thousand yen could help me get those new sneakers. I'd been saving up since the new year and I just need a little more..._

I ran over to the guy, wondering who he was. If grandma Sumire wants me to play a game or two with him, he must be pretty dang good. And from what I've heard, there's only one first year who's a regular, and I just met the guy a few strides ago. This guy didn't seem to be wearing the jacket so it's all good right?

He sat on a bench near some other in-experienced first-years, so he couldn't be all that or more...

People gasped around me as I asked him, "Hey do you want to play a game with me?"

"What?" I turned around, seeing a bunch of people staring at me, multiple eyes wide with shock before I repeated myself. "I asked, _what?_"

"Sure."

I froze, hearing a _very _familiar voice.

I turned, finding myself face-to-face with Ryoma, the first-year prodigy.

"Oh schnitzels."

**A/N: **By the way peoples, I _did _mean to spell the last word like that in this. The next chapter'll explain why Akira said 'schnitzels' :P


	2. Surprises

**Bold = **Shouting, random sounds and change of POV or a time skip.

_Italics_ Exaggerated words, thoughts, flashbacks or different language(s).

(BRACKETS) = Thoughts of author ;)

* * *

**Akira POV**

"Oh schnitzels."

"Schnitzels?" I heard a few people in the background look at me like I was crazy.

I turned to them, "It's my version of the s word!"

"S word? You mean shi-," I ran to the guy who almost spoke.

Glaring him, I spoke slowly, enunciating each word nice and clearly "Do _not _swear in front of me."

"But it's technically not a swear word-," I glared the guy until he stopped speaking.

I turned towards my grandma, and ignored the group that soon bunching around the court, I shouted to Obaa-san "Hey you old hag! You never said I had to play against a dang regular!"

She grinned mischievously, throwing me a racquet, "Well too late now, right? It's part of the Ryuzaki heritage to never go back on your words, so you _must_ play now."

I mentally cursed, catching the racquet. _And I thought I could enter this school peacefully, _without _drawing attention to myself. _I thought before turning over to Ryoma, "Fine I'll play you. Only one game though, three sets and nothing more."

_Hopefully I won't drag myself into the spotlight._

Ryoma smiled. No-more like grinned.

I was walking over to court D, the one that wasn't open at the moment when I felt a hand go onto me.

Looking up I saw this guy with spiked up jet-black hair, another regular guy judging by his coat, "I don't think a first-year like you should play against Ryoma yet. You're new, right? I, Momoshiro, didn't beat him on the first try either you know. Even if I was injured, he _was _really good."

"Well thanks for that Momo-_chan _but I can't go against my words. Part of that old hag's law," I pointed towards grandma, "So let go. Please."

"Your loss kid," he shook his head, turning over to two other regulars, "Hey Eiji, Oishi, it seems this kid's going to do it."

Eiji, the guy with wine-red hair frizzed up at the sides looked at Momoshiro. He seemed kind of dazed, but his eyes refocused as Momoshiro finished his sentence. The guy next to him, Oishi, some tall man with cap-like hair and two strands sticking into his face, stared straight at me along with Eiji, who just processed what Momoshiro just said. Their faces contorted into pity, but it only lasted a few seconds.

Plenty of time for me to notice.

"Good luck kiddo!" they both said in unison, giving me a good old thumbs up.

Clearly, the secret message in the gesture was: _You're going to need it!_

I noticed that Ryoma had already nestled over near the court, so I kept trudging over there, ignoring the people who tried to stop me. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw that the rest of the regulars coming over to our court.

I sighed, pulling my cap down a little lower, muttering out loud, "Why did I get caught up in this?"

**Normal POV**

Everyone in the regulars group gathered near the court, wanting to see Ryoma play against the new rookie.

Momoshiro looked up, "Hey why're you all here? Wasn't Inui practising with you guys just a second ago?"

Eiji nodded, "Yeah, but he wanted us to watch this match. Don't know why, he just forced us to."

"It's to help gather data on Echizen most likely," Kaidoh grumbled.

"I wonder how this new kid will play," Oishi nodded, watching as Akira walked over to the baseline.

"I doubt he's any good, I mean, he's just a first year right? Plus he looks like a girl." Momoshiro put in.

Fuji smiled, "We'll see."

Tezuka remained quiet, along with a shy-looking Kawamura.

Akira sighed, walking over to the net, "Hey Ryoma," Ryoma twitched slightly at being called by his first name, "Rough or smooth?"

"Smooth," Ryoma answered.

Akira twirled his racquet, watching it as it landed, right-side up "Yep, it's a smooth."

He walked back to the baseline, watching Ryoma take out his tennis ball.

The referee blew the whistle, "Begin!"

Ryoma threw the ball upwards with his left and, using his right to swat. It was just a normal serve, so Akira rallied it back with ease, his left hand swinging it back to Ryoma.

"Hey, look," Momoshiro pointed, at Akira's arm, "The new kid's a southpaw!"

Indeed, Akira was using his left hand to rally back the balls going for him. Ryoma smiled, hitting it back and forth with his right.

"But Echizen's still going easy on poor Ryuzaki-kun," Oishi sighed.

Ryoma decided it was time; he ended the rally by hitting it towards the right corner, barely missing the white line.

"In! Love fifteen!" The referee called.

"Aww dang it! You are good!" Akira sighed, racing a glance over at Grandma Sumire. The coach grinned, mouthing unintelligible words to him. Akira frowned, "Guess I have no choice…"

_I can't lose without a fight, or else ol' grandma there will kill me. _Akira thought to himself, shuddering at the memory of what happened _last _time.

Akira threw the ball up, slamming it down to Ryoma. He easily lobbed it back, making Akira curve his lip, "Come on Ryoma! Try harder!"

This time, something surprising happened, Akira smashed the ball at Ryoma with a frighteningly fast pace, the ball turning into a bright-yellow blur. It went right past the unsuspecting Ryoma.

"15 all!" the referee called.

Eiji blinked, "Did the kid just level up or something?"

Ryoma smiled, "So you do have some game," he threw the ball into the air, this time he was doing a twist serve.

"Ryoma! You can't use that against a rookie yet!" Oishi cried.

The ball sliced through the air.

Ryoma finally remembered he was only going against some first-year rookie, a slick of regret falling onto his face as he watched the ball twisting. _Just because he's done _one _pro-shot doesn't mean that-_

"Ohh wow, what a neat shot!"

Everyone snapped over to look at Akira, who watched as the ball tried to slam into his face, but as it twisted towards him, he slashed it back at Ryoma.

Ryoma rallied it back, a look of surprise on his face.

Akira, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the looks of astonishment. He didn't even seem to be fazed that the twist serve was one of the great techniques made by Ryoma.

"What the heck? How can a rookie go up against Ochibi's twist serve?" Momoshiro watched in surprise.

He wasn't the only one, everyone had a look of astonishment on their faces, not believing the spectacle that had just happened.

"That's not a normal newbie, is it?" Fuji returned to his usual smile, slitting his eyes once again.

Tezuka watched with indifference, but silently agreed with Fuji.

_That's no amateur player._

Akira, still oblivious, let a smirk caress his face, "Hey do that again Ryoma! That was _so _cool!"

He hit back the ball towards Ryoma, a lob into the air, "Go ahead and do it again! C'mon, I want to see it," Akira urged.

Ryoma returned to his usual manner, hitting the lob back, "Who are you? Not many people can return my twist serve on their first try."

Akira froze for a moment, realizing his mistake before he quickly hit the ball back to Ryoma "Oh…uh, you saw that…ah…huh...umm… Let's call it a fluke shot alright?"

"A fluke?" Fuji muffled a laugh, eyes in their usual slits while staring at Akira's unconvincing grin, "Normally someone wouldn't try to urge their abilities to be only a fluke."

Ryoma beamed, realizing he may be able to have some fun with this, placing his racquet into his left hand.

"Ohhh! So you're really a lefty?" Akira grin broadened.

{*}

Sakuno had looked all over the school and couldn't find Akira _anywhere._

She had finally given up after hours of searching, deciding to walk over to the tennis court, hoping to find Ryoma if not Akira.

As she went across the path, she made her way to the courts when she saw a huge crowd around court D. Sakuno watched in puzzlement, seeing some cheers.

"Ryoma-sama! Beat the new kid down already!"

Sakuno stopped in mid-step, realizing Ryoma was playing a game. She smiled, walking over towards the court.

She tapped Momoshiro's shoulder, "Hey Momo-chan, is Echizen-kun in there?"

Momoshiro turned, seeing Sakuno behind him, a smile on his face, "Yeah, and he's been playing this for an hour now, and it's _still _only deuces!"

Sakuno gasped, "Seriously! Who's he playing? Is it Kaidoh-," she froze, realizing the _entire _regular team was next to the outside gates.

"W-wait, don't tell me he's playing-," she was cut off.

"Advantage point Ryuzaki!"

"-Akira," Sakuno pushed herself through, finding her cousin in the court.

Ryoma threw the ball, serving another twist to hit Akira. On the other hand, Akira still hit it back with ease, "C'mon Ryoma! Is this all you've got?" You could hear the smile in his voice.

This time Ryoma smiled, "_Mada mada dane_."

Ryoma slid across the ground, right under the ball before hitting it, "Drive B!"

The ball bounced across Akira's side in three easy jumps.

"Deuce!"

Oishi muttered something, making Sakuno freeze.

"…the last point…it's already been the twenty-third deuce…"

Akira locked gazes with Ryoma, "Hey do you happen to be related to-," he got cut off.

Sakuno shouted, "Akira! Mom says we have to go before six or else you won't get the cap you want!"

Akira stopped short, the ball flying past him, as he turned over to Sakuno, "What! It's already five-fifty seven! Why didn't you say so sooner!"

Akira turned to the referee, "Sorry but I forfeit!" before quickly dashing off out of school grounds, throwing the racquet to the side.

Everyone stood there in silence, the whole scene not computing in their minds.

Finally, the ref snapped out of his daze, "Due to forfeit, Echizen Ryoma now wins!"

Everyone was still silent, before a loud cheer rushed through the crowd. Well, if a crowd could count as a few tennis players, then yes, it was a crowd.

Ryoma grunted, sweat running down his face.

Momoshiro ran over to Ryoma, "Wow that kid was great, but in the end you still won!"

"Yeah, by his _forfeit,_" Ryoma sighed, "And that was such a great game."

_Even though I was only using forty percent of my left-handed-power, he was still up to par. Not many can do that_. Ryoma thought to himself, taking a swig of his water.

"Great job! That was quite surprising, to think that that kid was so good. He may even have a shot at becoming a regular!" Eiji grinned.

Fuji nodded, a smile still plastered on, "Too bad we couldn't see the real outcome. I wonder who would have won."

"Me obviously," Ryoma took another swig from his water bottle. He wiped his mouth with his wrist, a thought running into his mind and out of his mouth, "I want to play another game with him…seriously this time."

"Well we could find out tomorrow," Oishi put in, a smile on his face as he patted the first-year's back.

"Yeah, it's not every day you find a first-year that plays on par with Ochibi here," Momoshiro grinned, before realizing something, "Wait - Chibisuke," Ryoma looked up, "Did you just say that because you _weren't _playing seriously before?"

Ryoma quirked his mouth, making Momoshiro drown in shock.

Kawamura saw a silhouette near the gates to the court, "Hey, were you the one who got that kid to forfeit?"

Sakuno flinched, even though Kawamura was in his 'shy mode,' his racket was still leaning against the bench. "So sorry Echizen-kun!" she waved before dashing off.

She didn't get very far, hitting against someone on her getaway. Sakuno looked up, finding gray-hair and wrinkles. She smiled up at her grandma, about to ask if she could go when…

"Sakuno, could you give Akira this?" Obaa-san handed a thousand yen to the girl, "He did play against Ryoma, so he deserves something."

"Okay!" Sakuno chirped, dashing off towards the school yard, seeing the twilight in the distance.

{*}

**Akira POV**

Today was the day I finally go to school!

I packed my stuff into my bag, humming a small tune, before checking the time. Yesterday was pretty cool, meeting that tennis team and playing against one of the strongest guys! I still couldn't believe the kid was that great, since his size wasn't something to brag about.

Well…maybe I shouldn't be talking since I'm an inch or two smaller…

I shook my head, _What am I thinking! Yesterday was _not _cool and meeting the team whilst playing the strong guys _wasn't _fun at all. It wasn't...it wasn't..._

Pulling my sleeve down, ripping myself from my reverie, and I checked the time on my watch.

"Perfect. Sakuno should be waking up by now," I heard a gong from our grandfather's clock in the living room, "Which means I got an hour or so before school begins!"

I was about to grab my blue cap when I noticed a white one with a Nike design on the counter. I smiled, "Thanks auntie," before taking it and stuffing all my hair under it, excluding my long fringes that bordered my face. I still couldn't believe I made it back home in merely three minutes yesterday! What a feat huh? Maybe I should join the track club or something.

Taking a glance over at the mirror, I checked myself just in case of disarray.

I had the Seishun black uniform on me, the pants and jacket as well. My new white ball cap didn't really go well against the clothes but I didn't really care. White sneakers were on my feet and I held my school bag with me, so I think I had everything. I quickly did those cheesy poses people do when looking in the mirror, right before slinging my bag over my shoulder with ease.

Leaving a note on the counter for Sakuno, I rushed out the door, getting ready for my morning run. I knew I should just change into some other clothes or else my new uniform would get dirty, but then, knowing myself all too well, I wouldn't be able to change back for school. I sighed, checking for cars across the road.

I jogged over to the park area, noticing some of those tennis people from yesterday there.

"Hey did you hear about that first year?"

"Yeah, you mean Echizen right? The guy who got into the regulars and helped win the nationals?"

My ears prickled, _Ryoma helped to win the nationals? Really…_

"No not that first year! I mean the new one!"

"New one? You mean the androgynous newbie?"

At that, I left the park. No need to get caught up in school drama and the likes of it.

By the time I had circled the streets, I realized I'd ran right out of the school district! Man, I couldn't believe how dense I was. Turning back, I saw a temple surrounded by some sakura trees. I smiled, hearing a resonating gong in the distance.

_Oh what the heck_, I decided to check it out. _It won't hurt to go sight-seeing, right?_

I ran up the steps, passing the temple gates to find myself in front of a tennis court.

"Who're you?"

I turned around, seeing some tanned guy who slightly resembled Ryoma. He had a dark blue kimono on, slightly revealing his muscled chest, and didn't seem to have any shoes on.

"Call me Akira. Ryuzaki Akira if you may," I bowed to the mysterious man, before looking up, "Are you the monk who tends to this temple?"

"Uh…I guess so," was the monk's reply.

Looking even closer, I noticed he had the same sharp eyes as Ryoma.

"Hey do you happen to be related to Echizen Ryoma?"

The monk grinned, "Yeah. He's my son."

"Really? We'll he plays _really _well at tennis!" I mirrored his grin, realization prickling the back of my mind.

He tilted his head towards me.

I mirrored him, "So what's your name Oji-san?"

His grin widened, "Why don't we play a game of tennis? I'll answer if you beat me."

I stared at him with large cynical eyes, "I doubt I'll be able to beat the great _Samurai_."

He didn't seem fazed, "So you did know. Who I was I mean."

I nodded, "It's not every day you meet a kid like Ryoma that _wouldn't_ have a pro-dad. No wonder Ryoma's so good. It's probably cause' of you."

Nanjiro agreed, "Well do you still want to play a game?"

"I don't have a racquet," I put in my excuse.

He smiled a toothy grin, "I'll get you one."


End file.
